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Tommy Bryan - Sports

BY TOMMY BRYAN, sports editorIt's been a while since I've worked up a blog entry -- blame it on the heat, laziness, writer's block -- what ever.

Bobbie Kay and I took the kids on a week-long vacation to Orange Beach, AL. We had a great time, but I made an important discovery. Our boys (15 and 10) take up way too much space for a 1 BR, 1 BA condo. Next time, we're moving up to 2 BR, 2 BA if it kills me.

Telling Tales

By BECKY ANDREWS, Wilson Living MagazineThis summer our home has been a revolving door of activity. I do believe there’s not been a single week where my boys have not had at least one sleepover (at our house). You may or may not know how hard it is to work from home during your children’s summer break. It’s not all together impossible, just challenging. And unless you’ve sat at your makeshift desk at the kitchen table talking on the phone, trying to work on your computer while your children decide to fight a blood match 12 inches away-you may not understand.

Ask Ken Beck

Dear Ken: What was Clint Eastwood’s first appearance in a western?Eastwood, 81, who co-starred in the TV western “Rawhide” from 1959 to 1965, made his debut as a cowboy playing Tom, a ranch hand in “Star in the Dust,” which was released in June 1956. For the role he didn’t even receive a screen credit.

Two months later, he co-starred as a U.S. Cavalry lieutenant in “The First Traveling Saleslady” and received his first screen kiss from Carol Channing. Two years later he co-starred in “Ambush at Cimarron Pass.” It was while on break from “Rawhide” in 1964 that he made his fourth film western, “A Fistful of Dollars,” which turned him into an international star. This first in a series of three spaghetti westerns that the actor made with director Sergio Leone was not released in the United States until 1967. While making “Fistful,” Eastwood wore the same boots he wore while playing Rowdy Yates on “Rawhide.”

General Lifestyle

By RAY POPEWalking around in the backyard, I noticed a quietness that seemed a little strange, almost like when the cicadas finished their business and went on their way. What was missing? The beautiful singing behind my house. Where have the Purple Martins gone? They finished their brood raising and now are flocking together away from the nesting boxes.

The ones at Sellars Funeral home have packed up and left along with the ones at Jackson Enterprises down on South Maple Street. They will hang around in a flock till the small alarm bell inside their heads says its time to head south.

Right now I still have the usual species around my bird feeders, with the most prevalent one being the House Finches. There is one feeder that is just outside my kitchen window, and sometimes a few of them will sit and watch me just on the other side of the glass as I do the dishes. This past Sunday, I slowly opened the window and reached out and rubbed one little female on her back before she couldn’t stand it any longer and flew to a low limb a few feet away.

By KEN BECK, The Wilson PostLong-time Lebanon school teacher Hattie Bryant, 87, loved the classroom, but little could the educator have imagined in 1944, when she began her career, that one day she would enter local history books herself.

In fall of 1964, Bryant, who taught her first 20 years at the all-black Market Street Elementary School, became the first African-American teacher to instruct white students in the Lebanon Special School District (LSSD).

On Aug. 1, the new Winfree Bryant Middle School, named in honor of Bryant and Cordell Winfree, former teacher, principal and director of schools of LSSD, will open its doors to hundreds of students whose skin tones will range from brown to black to white.

A half century ago this would not have been the case in most classrooms across the nation.

Calendar

Government meetings -Lebanon City Council will have a budget work session at 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, July 20. Council will also have a special called meeting at that time as well. Council and will have another work session at 5:30 p.m., Thursday, July 21. Both are in the Town Meeting Hall, City of Lebanon Administration Building at Castle Heights.

Lebanon City Council’s Public Works/Transportation Committee will meet at 7:30 a.m., Monday, July 25, in the Town Meeting Hall, City of Lebanon Administration Building at Castle Heights.

Board of Directors of the Joint Economic & Community Development Board of Wilson County will meet at 7:30 a.m., Tuesday, July 26, at the JECDB office at 115 N. Castle Heights Ave., Suite 102, Lebanon.

Wilson County Board of Education will meet in a work session at 4:30 p.m., Thursday, July 28, to discuss the 2012-2013 school calendar and a presentation from Dr. Bob Eaker on PLCs in the boardroom at the Central Office, 351 Stumpy Lane, Lebanon. The board will also meet in regular session at 5 p.m., Monday, Aug. 1, at the Central Office. All items to be considered for the agenda must be faxed to 758-3775 to Rose Ratagick no later than 3 p.m., Wednesday, July 20.

General News

By PATRICK HALL, The Wilson PostDr. Robert Bone, a surgeon and a lifelong Lebanon resident, has secured a $500,000 grant for Wilson County Schools through the Affordable Care Act School-Based Health Centers Capital Program through a non-profit organization established to help children receive better healthcare and education.

Bone set up a 501c3 non-profit organization in 2010 called The Medicine and Education Group, or MEG, to help local schools provide better healthcare to students while at school and to give families in need an avenue to receive better care.

The grant money will be used to help schools expand and improve the equipment used by school Registered Nurses to treat students.

From Post staff reportsEmployees at Lebanon-based Lochinvar Corporation should benefit from new opportunities for growth and innovation through an acquisition of the company by A. O. Smith Corporation of Milwaukee, Wis.

The purchase by A. O. Smith is for $418 million, and the company will not assume Lochinvar’s existing debt. The acquisition was confirmed Tuesday by Bob Lancaster, vice president of Human Resources for Lochinvar.

The Lebanon manufacturing plant employs 375 workers. The company has a total of 420 workers. Lancaster noted that the Lebanon facility will remain in operation and that the company will still be involved in the community.

By PATRICK HALL, The Wilson PostLEBANON -- A trial date has been set for Robert Askew, an Antioch resident, who was charged with vandalism and theft of property for stealing the badge of the late Officer John Musice from a plaque in the John W. Musice Building on Friday, July 15.

Askew, 46, of 5093 Smith Springs Pkwy, Antioch, appeared before Judge Robert Hamilton on Wednesday morning, and Wilson County Court Clerk Linda Neal said his trial was set for Tuesday, Aug. 23 at 9 a.m.

Wilson County Sheriff Terry Ashe said court officials noticed the badge on a plaque for Musice was missing on July 15 and began to look into the theft. Ashe said Askew was in the court building that day, as part of another case and was a testifying witness.

General Sports

From Post staff reportsWant to get good seats at a great price for this weekend’s races at the Nashville Superspeedway? The trick is to act now.

Reserved seat tickets for Friday night’s “Lucas Deep Clean 200” NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race start at $25 and are available in Lebanon at the Save-A-Lot Store, located at 325 North Cumberland Street.

Tickets for Saturday evening’s “Federated Auto Parts 300” NASCAR Nationwide Series start at $30. Advance junior tickets (for kids age 14 and under) are just $10. However, adult ticket prices will increase on the day of the race by $10 and junior tickets will increase by $5.

The Wilson County Black History Committee will celebrate the legacy of the Lebanon Clowns Negro League baseball team with a weekend of activities July 23-24.

The group will sponsor a Youth Exhibition Game at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, July 23, at the James E. Ward Agricultural Center/Wilson County Fairgrounds. Teams will consist of boys and girls from the Lebanon community. Admission to the game is free, but donations will be accepted.

On Sunday, the tribute begins at 3 p.m. at Pickett Rucker Methodist Church, 633 Glover Street. The Rev. Dr. Charley Edward McAdoo, a former member of the Lebanon Clowns, will be the featured speaker, and the children who participated in Saturday’s exhibition game will receive prizes. A highlight of the event will be the presentation of the Chris Price Athletic Award to a young baseball athlete.

The late Chris Price was a standout baseball athlete at Lebanon High School, a former Ohio Valley Conference player at Middle Tennessee State University, and played professionally with the Kansas City Royals organization. He died in a motorcycle accident in 2009. The award will be presented by his widow, Marsha Price.

Baseball’s Negro League teams offered the opportunity for African American athletes to play baseball at a professional level in the mid-20th century, before black players were integrated into major- and minor-league teams. The leagues were most popular during the 1940s and into the 1950s.

Former members of the Lebanon Clowns, as well as their families and friends, are invited to attend the tribute. There is no admission fee, but donations will be accepted.

All donations go toward the restoration of Historic Pickett Chapel in Lebanon. When the restoration project is complete, Pickett Chapel will house the Roy Bailey African American History Center, and will serve as a resource for the entire Lebanon community.

For more information on the youth exhibition game or the tribute event, contact Lakesha Pickett at 290-9041, or Carla McAdoo at 593-1991. You may also call the Roy Bailey African American History Museum at 449-2911.

To learn more about Historic Pickett Chapel, visit the Wilson County Black History Committee’s Web site, www.wilsoncountyblackhistory.org.